Six Word Stories Totally Thrilled Me

Before I announce the winner of the six word cast-on and bind-off story contest, I have to tell you a favorite of mine.  That it really is six words is just a coincidence, because it was given to me by a student in one of my classes, and I've never forgotten it:

        "You mean there's more than ONE?"

Remember the moment you discovered there was more than one way to cast on and bind off?  I happened to be there when this lady did, and it tickled me all to bits.  Her six words represent all that is beautiful about what happens when knitters come together to share what they know.  Her knitting would never be the same after that day, and honestly, neither would mine.

Okay, down to business.  To begin with, as always, you all blew my mind.  I laughed, I cried.  It was better than Cats.  Call me crazy, but I just cannot get enough of the stories knitters tell, and these were an absolute smorgasbord.  Thank you Gentle Readers, one and all.

Of course, choosing a winner would be all but impossible for me, so I naturally pawned it off on Phillip.  According to his Husband Contract, Phillip is in charge of all the household chores that are icky, dangerous, or just seem hard.  But even Phillp, bastion of evenhandedness and diplomacy that he is,  couldn't pick just one.  

Lucky for us, I've been saving up extra prizes for just such an emergency, so we can also choose 2nd and 3rd place winners to receive some fun treats, too.  Ready?  Here they are:

        Third Place:  Karen S.
        "400 stitches. Rip. 398, 402, Victory!"

        Second Place:  Melissa 
        "Head hopelessly lodged in vicelike neckline."

        First Place:  Kim D.
        "One knitter, 50 WIPs; What's bind-off?"

Thank you so much, Gentle Readers, for sharing your cast on and bind off stories.  Could the three geniuses above please send me an e-mail with your mailing addresses?

You all are winners to me.

Time For Six More: Let's Go!

Greetings, Gentle Readers!  It's quiet out there. Yeah, too quiet. Must be time for a contest!  The lovely and talented Cap Sease has kindly donated a copy of her OUTSTANDING book as the prize:

As knitting reference books go, this one is about as sexy as it gets.  If you can't find it in here, you probably don't need it.  And remember:  Since you have to swatch anyway, pick a new cast on and bind off to try each time and get smarter without really working hard.

Here's how we'll do it:

Enter the contest by posting a comment of exactly SIX WORDS, which tell your casting on and binding off story.  Happy, sad, funny, thrilling: Let's hear them all!  Next Friday, March 29th, 2013, I'll announce the winner, chosen by Phillip, who has to do all the hard non-knitting jobs.

For inspiration on writing your six-word story, visit HERE.

Love you Gentle Readers, truly do.

The Drawing Board (Back To)

My new publisher would like to see drawings of my design ideas before giving the collection a final OK.  This is very sensible, in my opinion, since drawing a knitted garment takes far less time than knitting one.  It just makes good sense to be sure that the publisher and I agree on the direction the collection should take, before the knitting commences.

Which is why I can't believe I've never been asked to provide sketches before.  That's right:  In two whole books of knitting, amounting to more than 50 projects, nobody has asked to see a preview of the projects I was designing.  They actually took it on faith that I would make up a collection that was cohesive in palette, varied in skill level, diplomatic in yarn choices, and illustrative of technique.  Looking back, I'm floored by the trust my previous editors have placed in me.

But this time, I'm drawing.  And by drawing, I mean, using pencils and paper at a prodigious rate to make pictures I hope will represent knitting.  Which, it turns out, is not at all easy.  I have never been to art class.  I had to have a friend give me a crash course in art supplies at the store.  And I am so happy that I only have to make hats for this project, because I'm pretty sure that trying to draw real fashion illustrations would kill me.  But it's going fairly well, all that considered.  And I'm kind of enjoying the fact that I can really see the whole collection emerging, rather than only imagining it.

On the down side, although the book calls for 20 hats, I have only culled my idea pile down to 36. (or maybe 37 - I just had a really cool thought).  So that means that I'll have to draw them all and let the publisher choose.  And that's assuming that my ideas are anything like what they had in mind for the book.  It could be that I'm drawing apples and they want oranges, in which case more drawings will need to be done.  I'm submitting the collection on Friday for review, and after that I'll know more.  Until then I'm drawing.  And Erasing.  The level of eraser dust and pencil sharpenings is such that I actually have to vacuum the table off between pictures. 

I'll share one neat thing I've discovered, should you ever find yourself needing to represent your knitting on paper:  Non-white drawing paper.  I got some in gray and some in tan, and both are great for really showing up colors - particularly white and black.  I also am deeply in love with woodless colored pencils.  They are so much more versatile than the wooden ones.  Who knew?  Artists, I suppose.  Not that we aren't artists, too, Gentle Readers.  It's just that our preferred medium is String.